ACUFO:

ACUFO is my comprehensive catalog of cases of encounters between aircraft and UFOs, whether they are "explained" or "unexplained".

The ACUFO catalog is made of case files with a case number, summary, quantitative information (date, location, number of witnesses...), classifications, all sources mentioning the case with their references, a discussion of the case in order to evaluate its causes, and a history of the changes made to the file.

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China or Japan, on between 1937 and 1945:

Case number:

ACUFO-1940-00-00-JAPAN2-1

Summary:

Among the alleged "foo-fighters" photographs claimed to have been taken near Japanese aircraft during World War II, we find:

I show that the plane on the photograph is a Mitsubishi Ki-30 "Ann" light bomber and trainer aircraft of the Japanese army that started to fly in 1937. I was used in 1938 against China, and later on the Pacific theater.

This means that the photo might have been taken between 1937 and 1945, over China or Japan or the Pacific.

The photo was titled for some reason, the plane should have been horizontal. The three bright spots claimed to be "foo fighters" may just be reflection of the sun on distant planes.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	Between 1937 and 1945
Time:	Day.
Duration:	?
First known report date:	1980
Reporting delay:	2 to 4 decades.

Geographical data:

Country:	China or Japan
State/Department:
City:

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	?
Number of known witnesses:	?
Number of named witnesses:	0

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Groupe OVNI japonais "Fraternité Cosmique".
Visibility conditions:	Day.
UFO observed:	?
UFO arrival observed:	?
UFO departure observed:	?
UFO action:	?
Witnesses action:
Photographs:	Yes.
Sketch(s) by witness(es):	No.
Sketch(es) approved by witness(es):	No.
Witness(es) feelings:	?
Witnesses interpretation:	Probable sun reflections on planes.

Classifications:

Sensors:	[ ] Visual: ? [ ] Airborne radar: [ ] Directional ground radar: [ ] Height finder ground radar: [ ] Photo: 1. [ ] Film/video: [ ] EM Effects: [ ] Failures: [ ] Damages:
Hynek:	DD
Armed / unarmed:	Armed, 2 7.62 mm Type 89 machine guns.
Reliability 1-3:	1
Strangeness 1-3:	2
ACUFO:	?

Sources:

[Ref. www1:] ON THE WEB:

A scan of a page appeared on the Web in the 2020's; it showed several of the known and alleged "foo-fighters" photographed over Japan. Nobody explained where the page came from. Below is the part that relates to the photograph dealt with in this case file:

[Ref. gfn1:] WEBSITE "GREY FALCON":

This photograph appears with the caption:

Interestingly enough, with all the sightings and reports, and all the gun cameras and high altitude photographs, no truly GOOD pictures of Foo Fighters from the period have surfaced.

[...]

This World War II photo of a Japanese torpedo/bomber has been around since the 1960's. Some say it's legit others say it's a doctored combat strike photo. The UFO's (lights) can be clearly seen.

Aircraft information:

The Mitsubishi Ki-30, (Photo above) Allied code name "Ann", was a Japanese light bomber, trainer, and ground attack aircraft that started to fly in 1937. It was used in the second Japanese campaign against China in 1938, much less on the Pacific theater.

The armament was 2 7.62 mm Type 89 machine guns, one fixed wing-mounted and another manually aimed from the rear cockpit.

Discussion:

A first note I want to make is that the photo appearing on the web was oriented falsely. The cloud laysers indicate that it should appear in this orientation:

This of course indicates that the original photos, it it existed, was not only titled but cropped.

The origin of the photo is never indicated on the Web. I note that most of the other, similar "Japan foo-fighters" photos came from a book by Paul Dong called "UFOS over China" (1983), and, from US ufologist Jan Aldrich, we learn that the images in the book originated with the "Cosmic Brotherhood Association" (C.B.A) UFO group in Japan, of which late ufologist Jun-Tchi Takanashi said that all their "Foo-fighter" photographs were spurious, published without pedigree.

The bright spots claimed to be "Foo-Fighters" may just be reflections of the sun on more distance planes; such a sun reflection can be seen on the cokcpit of the Ki-30.

Evaluation:

Probable sun reflections on planes.

Sources references:

* = Source is available to me.
? = Source I am told about but could not get so far. Help needed.

[gfn1] * "Foo-Fighters - Photographs", Web page on the GreyFalcon Website, not dated, as of January 2024, at http://foofighters.greyfalcon.us/photos.html

File history:

Authoring:

Main author:	Patrick Gross
Contributors:	None
Reviewers:	None
Editor:	Patrick Gross

Changes history:

Version:	Create/changed by:	Date:	Description:
0.1	Patrick Gross	January 27, 2024	Creation, [1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	January 27, 2024	First published.

This page was last updated on January 27, 2024.